Category Archives: entertaining

Before having our son, my husband and I rarely went out on Valentine’s Day. It’s so much more fun to stay in and cook a big meal of all our favorites (and also a lot cheaper!). Now with a toddler, we still celebrate with a home cooked meal, but it’s slightly different. If you are staying in with your family, I put together an easy meal for you with a fast cleanup that you and your family to enjoy together this Valentine’s Day.

Drink- Shirley Temples

One of my favorite drinks to order as a child was a Shirley Temple. I always felt so grown up. To be honest, I occasionally still order them. This makes the perfect Valentine’s Day drink because kids love it, it’s festive and adults even make it more “adult” like if they’d like 🙂 I prefer using tall plastic SOLO cups because really, kids and glassware just don’t mix.

Ingredients

1(12 ounce)bottle Grenadine

Ice

1(2 Liter)bottle lemon-lime soda

Maraschino cherriesfor garnish

Instructions

Pour 1 ounce Grenadine over ice in a glass.

Top with 8 ounces lemon-lime soda.

Garnish with maraschino cherries.

Main Dish- Pizza with Heart Shaped Pepperoni

Heart shaped pizza is such a fun Valentine’s Day dinner, but to save time on making it, why not just buy your favorite pizza and make heart shaped pepperoni? It’s easy and you can do it together.

You can use a cookie cutter, but I just used scissors and cut the pepperoni into heart shapes.

Heat it up and serve on SOLO plates. These can later serve as crafts for your kids to color and make their own hearts!

Dessert- Cake “Fondue”

Now, for the best part, dessert. Instead of the traditional cheese fondue, replace the cheese with frosting. This cake “fondue” is so fun to dip your mini cake pops into different icings and everyone customize their own Valentine’s Day treat.

Ingredients

1 box Funfetti cake and cupcake mix

Sprinkles of your choice

Cookie sticks (quantity depends on how many you want to make)

Cream cheese frosting

Fruit of your choice (I like pineapple with cream cheese frosting!)

Mini chocolate chips

Pink, purple, red and white gel food colors

Mini cupcake liners

SOLO bowls with lids

SOLO plates

Instructions

Bake the mini cupcakes according to the instructions on the box

While baking, make your frosting colors in the SOLO bowls.

Let the cupcakes cool for 10-12 minutes.

Place the mini cupcakes on the cookie sticks

Dip away!

For the leftover frosting, stick a lid on the bowl and place in the fridge.

Enjoy your Valentine’s Day meal with your loved one!

Until next time,

Christine

This post was sponsored by SOLO cup however all opinions and experiences are my own!

Super Bowl is one of my favorite events of the year, but you guessed right, not for the game. But for THE FOOD. Super Bowl food is the best. I took some classic Super Bowl recipes, fun hosting ideas and made them a little bit more kid-friendly. So whether you have a family or a party with kids, there is a little something for everyone to get you ready for the big game!

Setup
I love hosting. It’s one of my favorite things to do. But if there are a lot of people, especially with little ones, I need easy ideas for setup and clean up. I decided to minimize the dishes and use Solo Cup Products to make clean up easy and less complicated. They are completely disposable, recyclable and really durable. Once you are done with them, they can also be used for kids to write and color on them. It’s a win, win right?

Some fast and easy ideas are a snack bar, pigs in a blanket, tater tot skewers and individual 7 layer dip cups (because nothing says football more than dip).

SOLO has write on cups that are perfect to label the snacks. The kids can make their own snack bowls with lids. These bowls are easy for them to hold and whatever they don’t finish, the bowls serve as to-go cups. The small, clear cups are the perfect size for the individual 7 layer dip cups. Lastly, the paper plates are the adults for the skewers and other snacks. Don’t forget about the red and blue cups for the adult or kid beverages you serve. Plus, they add lots of color to your table.

Snack Bar
The best part of a snack bar is that you can customize it to your guests preferences. Since this is more kid friendly, the options are kid friendly, but even adults would enjoy them (I know I do!)

Snacks
Here are the snacks I used:

kid puffs

graham crackers

ring pops (everyone’s a champion!

M & M’s

pretzels

Doritos

blue corn chips

Pigs in a Blanket
This is an appetizer that everyone likes. You can definitely make them with recipes like this or you can buy them frozen, whatever makes your life easier! But either way, they are a great for kids and adults.

7 Layer Dip
These are perfect for a few reasons. The cups are very sturdy, so they are able to hold a lot without feeling too heavy. They are great size for those small hands and you don’t have to worry about any double dipping 🙂

Ingredients:

1(16 ounce) can refried beans

1(1 ounce) package taco seasoning

1cupguacamole or homemade guacamole

1(8 ounce) container sour cream

1cupchunky salsa

1cupshredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese (I used both!)

2Roma tomatoes, diced

1/2bunch of green onions, sliced

1(2.25 ounce) can of sliced olives, drained (Optional- my son doesn’t like olives)

Garnish with one tortilla chip. Store in the refrigerator until serving and serve with chips. Makes around 6 individual dips.

Tater Tot Skewers
These are super easy to make and really fun to eat. You can eat them right off the skewer or add it to your SOLO plate. 15-20 minutes at 425 degrees, let them cool and add 4-5 tots to each skewer. You can add ketchup to the small SOLO cups for dipping.

So if you are inviting friends over to watch the Super Bowl or watching it with your family, enjoy the game, whoever is playing….most importantly, enjoy the food with a no fuss clean up.

Until next time,

Christine

This post was sponsored by SOLO cup however all opinions and experiences are my own!

Let’s be honest, who doesn’t love cheese? It is one of my favorite things to eat and create some really fun dishes with. Since cheese is always such a hit, I decided to throw a cheese party for my friends (and for my son because it’s his absolute favorite). And why not a MAC N’ CHEESE BAR?! I have a few vegetarian friends and this would be perfect. Everyone can customize their own mac n’ cheese bowls and we can celebrate National Cheese Lover’s Day!

Setup

Since the holidays, I have been kind of entertained out. Over doing the dishes, the clean up, etc. I also have a toddler running around, so something fast and easy is preferred. I decided to minimize the dishes and use Solo Cup Products to make my clean up easy and less complicated. They are completely disposable, recyclable and really durable. I knew this would be the best option, but still keeping my party looking right.

They have write on cups that are perfect to label all the toppings. It looks clean and organized in your setup. Everyone can make their own mac n’ cheese bowls with lids Whatever they don’t finish, the bowls serve as to-go plates. Lastly, the paper plates serve for meat and cheese platters. It’s perfect and fuss-free.

Mac n’ Cheese Bar

And for the best part: the MAC N’ CHEESE. Honestly, you could make it from scratch or get a pre-made box. Whatever makes your life easier. From scratch, I like recipes like this. But you can grab a box and totally add in your own ingredients. I took a box of mac n’ cheese, added mild cheddar cheese, bread crumbs and baked it at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. It turned out DELICIOUS!

Toppings

Cheese is so versatile. It can be paired with so much. Here are the toppings I used:

hot dogs

salumi

bacon bits

cheeze its

broccoli

spinach

jalapenos

green onion

cubed cheese

Extras

The more cheese the better right? For an appetizer, I made a meat and cheese plate with salami, cheddar and pepper jack cheese with pita crackers. Really, anything would work; spinach artichoke dip, cheese dip, etc.

For the drinks, the best wine to pair with macaroni and cheese all depends on how fancy and cheesy your mac and cheese is. With a regular, old-fashioned recipe, you might just want a simple glass of white wine. An unoaked Chardonnay might be your best bet for an original recipe or even a dry Riesling. If you got a little fancy and added truffles to your recipe, champagne pairs perfectly. No wine drinkers? Cider pairs well with cheese too.

A party that will please everyone with an easy clean up? To go cups already set!

Doesn’t get better than that!

Until next time,

Christine

This post was sponsored by SOLO cup however all opinions and experiences are my own!

It’s the holiday season and I needed to bring something last minute to a friend’s party. I didn’t have a lot of time and needed to throw something together quickly. This bruschetta has 5 ingredients and was a huge party pleaser. It’s sweet and savory, best of both worlds. You could also top it with pistachios or balsamic for extra flavor and a splash of color. Enjoy! Find the recipe here.

Sunday, November 5th, I threw a party with my friends April from The Tipsy Housewife and Alex @Sassyconfetti. Not just any kind of party. It was a dip party with 30 plus food bloggers. When I mean dip, like the appetizer. Which who doesn’t love? Can you just imagine how good the dips actually were from these bloggers?! DELICIOUS. We compiled the recipes for the 30 amazing dips that were entered into Sunday’s First Annual #TipsySassyGoodlife Dip Contest. These recipes are definitely perfect for the holidays coming up.

But first, how did we even come up with this whole idea. To be honest, we just met a few months ago through the Instagram world and hit it off. At the J.W. Marriott one night, we spent the night discussing our love of food, wine, our families, and Chicago with a few glasses of wine (maybe more…) and the Dip Party was created!

In just one month, we invited 40 of our favorite bloggers and had 8 sponsors to provide with some seriously awesome swag. We work fast.

It was so amazing to see how much creativity and dedication went into each dip. We were totally blown away. I hope you get a chance to check out some of these bloggers and even try some of their recipes.

Sponsors:

1. SOLO (yes, we played dip bong. Don’t judge us. And has great Holiday plates and bowls this season)
2. Goose Island (1800 N Clybourn Ave, Chicago) (tasty beer that goes down sooooo smooth)
3. Salonv Aveda (best salon in the city. Seriously. If you need a place to prepare for the holidays, go! My whole family has been going for years)
4. Revolution Brewing (Christmas Ale is second to none!),
5. Goddess and Grocer (Chardonnay paired well with so many of the cheese dips)
6. Crazy Beautiful Wines (Loca Linda might be my favorite rose now)
7. KOVAL Distillery (alone or with bloody mary’s is a perfect combo)
8. SuckerPunch Gourmet (best bloody mary mix and spicy garlic pickle combo).

And special thanks to Angie Garbot photography for snapping these beautiful photos.

With Thanksgiving quickly approaching, there are a lot of things we need to do. Whether it is cooking, creating the right place setting or finding the perfect hostess gift, Thanksgiving can be overwhelming. I have rounded out some great recipes and fun gift ideas to make your Turkey Day a little more enjoyable with your family and friends.

Beet Bruschetta with Lavender- Vanilla Honey Drizzle

I don’t know what says more than Thanksgiving than beets. It’s like a must right? So why not take those beets and turn them into something fun that everyone would like?! This recipe is from the Ryanne, the blogger at Pineappple Expression. Her stuff is always amazing and under 40 minutes, it is sure to be a serious crowd pleaser.

First, preheat the oven to 375F. Peel and slice the beet into 1/4 slices. Place the slices on a roasting pan and toss with a light drizzle of olive oil, salt, pepper and a few sprigs of thyme. Roast the beets for 30 minutes, but flip after 15 for a more even cook. When the beets are done, pull from the oven and let them cool.

While the beets cool, slice the bread as you would for bruschetta. Coat lightly with olive oil and place in the oven under the broiler for a maximum of 5 minutes. The slices should still be soft, but have a nice golden color to the tops.

In a small bowl, combine the honey, lavender and vanilla bean (scrape the insides out to produce the black flecks) along with the apple cider vinegar. I love this combo!!

After the beets have cooled, chop into cubes as evenly as you can. 1/4 inch on each side. First cut into strips, then rotate the knife as you move through.

To assemble the toasts, use a butter knife to spread a layer of Boursin cheese onto each slice of bread. Next, crumble on a small mountain of the roasted beets. Using a spoon, drizzle a little bit of the honey mixture over the tops of each toast. Sprinkle with some coarse kosher salt or flaky sea salt on top. For more pizzazz, use the sprigs of thyme to garnish the plate.

Enjoy!

Thanksgiving Wine Bottle Labels

Whether you are bringing wine or serving it, these Thanksgiving themed labels would get a good laugh from all your guests at the table. A set of 4 is $8.89 and available on Prime. Perfect for all wine lovers. Find them here.

Skinny Pumpkin Bars

Whether a pre-dinner snack or a dessert, these pumpkin bars are delicious. They are not overly pumpkin and the chocolate chips are a great addition. My son devoured three in one day (he’s 20 months) and I am not going to even tell you how many I ate…..

I really like these party boxes for either your adult guests or a nice addition to your kids table. It can be filled with candy from a candy bar, leftovers or desserts to go, it is a cute way for your guests to leave with something special from the day. For a set of 12, it is $11.04 and available on Prime. You can find them here.

However you are celebrating, I hope you have a blessed day with friends and family, because in the end, that’s all that matters.